Chelsea: Three things to look for in awkward match against Fulham

Chelsea briefly turns their attention away from Real Madrid with an awkward match against Fulham. What should fans look for in this derby?

1. The midfield personnel

N’Golo Kante and Jorginho were terrific against Real Madrid in the first leg. They effectively nullified the threat of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric. Their influence was such that Kroos was often dropping into Los Blancos’ backline to maintain possession. N’Golo Kante was all over the place (as per his usual), and Jorginho was effective as he held position and ensured that Chelsea dictated the tie.

Mateo Kovacic has been out with an injury for the past four games, including massive games against Manchester City in the FA Cup semifinals, West Ham in a six-pointer game, and Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. Kante and Jorginho started all of those games. In that phase, Kante got a one-game rest against Brighton Mason Mount started in a midfield pivot while Jorginho started all four. The game was rather dull as Chelsea struggled to create anything.

To ensure that Kante and Jorginho are fit for the second leg against Real Madrid midweek, Thomas Tuchel will probably have to rotate against Fulham. The ideal solution would be to start Billy Gilmour with Mateo Kovacic. However, due to Tuchel’s cautious approach with injuries combined with his questionable treatment of Billy Gilmour and Tammy Abraham, we might just witness one of Kante or Jorginho starting.

The Blues face the risk of effectively running their star midfielders into the ground. However, with Tuchel’s style, no other alternative seems plausible. There is an outside possibility that Kovacic might start (if fit) along with Mason Mount. This option still seems effective as it would give much-needed rest to both Kante and Jorginho.

How Tuchel approaches the game against Fulham will be pretty interesting as he will have several selection headaches with the Real Madrid game around the corner. It will be interesting to see his starting eleven as it will show how much he rates Billy Gilmour.